CHAPTER 151
HB 377-FN - FINAL VERSION
16Mar2023... 0516h
15Jun2023... 2185EBA
2023 SESSION
23-0292
10/05
HOUSE BILL 377-FN
SPONSORS: Rep. Kuttab, Rock. 17; Rep. Ball, Rock. 25; Rep. Ebel, Merr. 7; Rep. Tanner, Sull. 5; Rep. Cordelli, Carr. 7; Rep. Hobson, Rock. 14; Rep. Prudhomme-O'Brien, Rock. 13; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Avard, Dist 12
COMMITTEE: Education
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires additional dyslexia and related disorder screening and intervention for kindergarten through second grade students.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
16Mar2023... 0516h
15Jun2023... 2185EBA 23-0292
10/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
151:1 Schools; Screening and Intervention for Dyslexia and Related Disorders. Amend RSA 200:59 to read as follows:
200:59 Screening and Intervention for Dyslexia and Related Disorders.
I. School districts shall screen all public school and chartered public school students, including English learners, [using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) or an equivalent cost effective] using an evidence-based screener for the identification of potential indicators or risk factors of dyslexia and related disorders upon [enrollment in public school kindergarten or first grade, and at appropriate times thereafter, to monitor progress. Beginning in 2017, such screening shall be completed no later than November 30 of each school year] entry to public school. The initial screening shall be completed no later than 60 school days of a student entering public school in kindergarten through third grade. The screening shall be repeated one additional time during the current school year, and repeated at a minimum of twice yearly through third grade to monitor progress.
I-a. If any such screening determines that a student fails to meet relevant benchmarks for grade-typical development in specific foundational skills, then the school must complete a secondary assessment within 30 days to determine whether the school shall provide such student with modified, differentiated, or supplementary evidence-based reading instruction intervention or refer the student to special education for further evaluation. The school shall inform the student’s parent or legal guardian of the screening results. If a special education referral is made for further evaluation, the state's required timeline shall be followed. During this time general education accommodations shall be initiated within 21 days of the initial screening, and continue until a special education determination is made.
II. The student's school district or chartered public school shall provide age-appropriate, evidence-based, intervention strategies to begin by the January 1 of the school year for any student who is identified as having characteristics that are associated with potential indicators or risk factors of dyslexia and related disorders [beginning no later than January 1, 2018].
III. The parent or legal guardian of any student who is identified by the public school as having characteristics that are associated with potential indicators or risk factors of dyslexia and related disorders shall be notified and provided with all screening information and findings, in addition to periodic formal screening results based on individual written intervention and support plans developed with the student's parents or legal guardian.
IV. A parent or legal guardian of any student who is identified as having characteristics that are associated with potential indicators or risk factors of dyslexia and related disorders has the right to submit the results of an independent evaluation from a licensed reading or intervention specialist [highly] trained in dyslexia and related disorders for consideration by the student's school district. A parent or legal guardian who submits an independent evaluation shall assume all fiscal responsibility for that independent evaluation.
151:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: July 28, 2023
Effective Date: September 26, 2023